Draft or coupling device



Feb. 28, 1933.

G. H. STERLING DRAFT OR COUPLING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 9, 1929 Patented Feb. 28, 1933 UNIT-ED GEonen H. s'rnnrrne, pr ,ennnwoon, nnvnnsorn ewe ee rmne 'p ee This invention relates .to .a draft device an particularly to a: hitch or coupling ofthetype used to draw various vehicles and such as used to connect a tractor with some other member which is drawn thereby. Such devices are now commonly used .to connect tractors to other vehicles and to plows and other agricultural implements. Ltflis desirableat times to have apositive coupling device and it is desirable at other times to have ,a releasable coupling which will uncouple and be released when a certain stress is placed thereon. It is also desirable to have a hitch which will automatically couple when en- 5 gaged zby the coupling member. A. coupling ordraitclevice. of this-generalttype is shown in the patent to Sagen, No. 1,540,426, granted on June 2, 1 925, onvwhich devicethe present invention is an improvement.

It is an object ,of this invention, 1 therefore, to providea coupling device which can .be converted into either ,a positive or a releasable coupling and one which has a. member movable substantially vertically when the coupling releases and which is movable rear- Wardly to permit automatic coupling ofthe device.

gItis afurther ,object otthe invention to provide 'a draft device ,comprisinga casing, ap vo ed lat-eh th ein'vand m mber engaged-bysaijd latch for holding theilatch in operative position, said member being rotatableto ,diflerent positions and being adapted to be engaged with said casing toprevent movement of said latch.

It is more specifically an object of-the invention to provide a draft device or coupling .comprisinga narrow casing, a latch pivoted thereinat its forward portion, a yoke pivoted in ,saidcasing-in the rear ofsaid latch, having .thereinya resilient means, a member ontop of aid as g nn c t ai resi i n me n and rotatable to a plurality of positionsin .QllB ogt-w-hichit is locked to the casing and in othersof which it is movable against said resilient means by stress placed onsaid latch,

yek i ps pe res e 3 hes an e h e ie i n ie vanteg e o t i i e it en w l be iul y e fer h i th a springalsobeing-providedfor holding said f owing de c ipt on ma n een ien wit th :eeeomr ny n dr wi in w ich lik refen uee c henaeters refe to simila pa ts throughou :th se al view and Fig- :5 is a view-ii side elevetiQ e -th draft l l vie th l ee ionememb bein sh wn ver ica secti n;

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met rri-ng t th d awing-th de ieeieomp sesraveomp retiv y ne roweas ng d si nated gen ral y a 10- --Whi e this" ea in 1330 might b ofvar-iou te ms,v in ;the embodimentofthe inv ntion l ustrate bis show as having sid wall -,-.-a rea wal 2,25 subetantia y recta gula woke-lik p rtion 1 a i szilpne'r to rwardgend and an inter-" mediate parti ion :14. Thesid mellsprll hav rizonta slots :15; xtendmgwthereinto from ;.the :ionvvareix end there 5 th rp rtien b low the s o s having t ur unded iron end-and h ying forme at th louter. si s thereo bossesi -lil Arp v memb 1? .imth term f rive z rl boltextendsnthro gh bores-in th bosse illarand form aepive onv wh c sw ng alatchrL8- Said=lat hi18is genenaly in the term. or aboe with aepimmzaienos d ubstanti lly cen r lly o i. ;bQo, -norr ion, and-th ame hasrarearwa dl-y extendg Porti n :lSashou-ldened a i i ndvt :ferm a termin l por n or; tengzu 11.8 wi .esu stan ial y afla sur ac :lfieia zits npe sid Latch 1 8 is d PQ$Qdl Q W I th iel znaz z an haszb sses i8 atits'siiies e g ging .th r ne sid -0f :saidewells', rivet 17 extending eentr lyez isaid b sses 18d.- ae -y k i ah v ng aer ieelly i tending ap are ilel t-twarlllalsie bst ntial yho izonta 0P wa l Q911- neeting xeame idi no led an ca ng -1 betw en rea s wa 21:21am par i ion 14 and :is ep vetedla it 'iho tom t ea d reasingbyis i ab pivc e n h th lr'vets 1119-, A washe plate 20 is disposed beneath the top of said yoke and has an apertured projection at the forward portion of said yoke enaged by one end of a tensile coiled spring 21, which spring extends downwardly and forwardly and has its other end secured to a cotter pin 22 inserted'in an aperture in partition 14,the spread ends of said pin lying in slots in the forward wall of partition 14. A headed bolt 23 has a shoulder-forming reduced portion 23a extending through the top of yoke '16 and washer plate 20, said reduced portion being threaded at its lower end to receive a nut 24 adapted to slide betweenthe walls of yoke 16 and having projections 24a at one side embracing the sides of said yoke. A coiled compression spring 25 surrounds por- 'tion 23a of bolt 23 and is disposedbetween nut 24 and the top of yoke 16." Yoke 16 has a vertically extending slot 16a in one side thereof aligned with a slot 11?) in one of the i side walls'll of casinglOand nut 24 has an indicating pointer 24?) formed thereon extending throughsaidslots and adapted to cooperate with numberedgraduations 26a on a plate 26 secured to oneof the side walls 11 adjacent slot 11?). 'A member 27 is rotatably mounted on bolt 23 at its upper larger portion and beneath the head of said bolt. Member 27 is generally in'the form of a frustum of' a'pyramid and has projecting downwardly from its under surface centrally thereof an elongated T';head 27a. It will thus be se'en' thatthe sides of member 27 have their exterior surfaces sloping down- *wardly and outwardly andsaid member is "provided with three distinct under surfaces =27b-which slope downwardly and outwardly and intersectthe side surfaces at quite a sharp angle; as shown in Figs. 3,4 and 6. The surfaces'27b at opposite'sides of member 27 are disposed at diflerent angles to the 'jhorizontal. .At the side opposite the middle surface 27b,- member-27is provided with a slot 27c,'for a purpose to'belater described. 'Th side walls 11' have=inwardly extending head 27a of member 27 has-its long axis extending transversely of side walls 11, the

sides of said T are beneath the flanges 110 as shown'in Figi-t so that member 27 cannot be lifted out of casing 10. The rear wall :12-of casing- 10 has a rearwardly extending flange 12a of rectangular form extending thereacross andan angle plate 28 is bolted to 1 the-rear wall 12 above flange 12a by headed andnutted'bolts 29. Bolts'29 pass through vertically extending elongated'slots 12b in the *rear wall 12 so that plate 28 may be secured in-"diiferent positions. The" horizontal portions of plate 28 andflang'e12aar'e provided with a plurality of vertically extending aligned holes 2 8a through any one ofwhich pass. the same extending through an aperture in the draw bar or tractor member 31 disposed between flange 12a and plate 28. It will be noted that casing 10 has V shaped recesses 1103 at its top formed by the rearwardly projecting pointed ends of side walls 11. The angle of these recesses is substantially the same as the angle between the sides 'and bottom of the edge of member 27 so that flat forward portion through which extends a vertical slot 320 and a plurality of vertical holes 32d, said slot and holes being adapted to receive a bolt attaching member 32 to the device to be drawn. l

In operation the device will be connected to the traction member 31 as shown, bolt passing through the desired one of the holes 28a. If the latch'18 is not secured to mem-, ber 32 as shown in the full line positions in V Fig. 1 to 3, and it is desired to automatically connectthe hitch, latch 18 will be swung forward as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The hitch will now be moved toward member 32. as the hitch is usually carried by the trac tor and member 32 will be led into the slots 15. The end of the portion 32a will strike latch 18 above pivot 17 and end 184; of latch 18 will be swung or pushed rearwardly. As, the terminal end 18?) swings downwardly it" will strike one of the exterior sides of' member 27. This will tend to push member 27 forwardly and'said member will swing forwardly carrying with it bolt 23 and yoke 16,.. the latter swinging about pivots 19 and spring 21 being extended. When the end of member 18 swings past the edge of member 27' the parts will be stopped and spring 21 will swing yoke 16, the bolt 23 and member .v 27 forwardlyso that the terminal end 185 of the latch 18 will be disposed under one of flanges 11c a bove yoke 16 and when the T the sides of member 27 with surface 180 engaging one of the surfaces 27 b. When member 27 is in this position'the narrow side of its T head 27 also extends transversely ofthe casing walls 11 and member 27 can move vertically between flanges 110. The latch isnow in the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 3, coupled tomember 32 and is ready to pull the member which is to 18c acting as a cam against one of the sur-- I faces 27?). Member 27 will be forced up- -wardly and slightly forwardly as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, the same raising bolt 23 and nut 24 and compressing spring 25. L atch 18 will move'from beneath the; edge of'member 27 and be released. Nut24:

can be adjusted to place spring 25 under different degrees of tension so that latch 18 will release at diiferent tensions or degrees of pulling force. The pointer 24?) will indicate the force measured in pounds at which the latch will release, this being indicated by the numbered graduations 26a. One of the surfaces 27 b at opposite sides of member 27 is thus engaged when said indications 26aare used. The opposite surface 27 b has a little steeper angle and requires somewhat This is called the special position of the hitch or of member 27. As shown in Fig. 2

the top of member 27 bears four designations, namely Reg meaning the regular position with one of the opposite surfaces 27?) engaging surface 180. In this position the graduations 26a are used. Opposite the designation Reg is the designation Spec meaning special and when in this position a greater force will be needed to release the hitch than indicated on the graduations 26a. At another part of member 27 is the word Positive. 27a is disposed as shown in Fig. 4 and member 27 cannot be lifted by the tongue 18?) of the latch 18 as the sides of the T head will engage flanges 110. The hitch is thus positively connected and cannot release under tension.

The side of member 27 opposite that carrying the word Positive is designated Release. This is the side having the slot 270 therein and the end 186 of latch 18 can swing freely through this slot and when this slot is disposed forwardly latch 18 is always released. The spring 21 is a much lighter spring than spring 25 and very little force is needed to swing members 16, 23, 25 and 27 forwardly when latch 18 is automatically coupled to member 32.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a simple and eflicient draft device or hitch. The parts of the device are comparatively few and the whole device is quite simple and compact and forms a very practical and marketable hitch. The same has been amply demonstrated in actual practice and is being commercially marketed.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, proportions and arrangement of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable ofcarrying out the objects above set forth, in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

hat is claimed is p 1. A draft device comprising a casing, a latch pivoted" at one end thereof, a member mounted to align and engage with said latch, said member being movable in two direclVhen in this position the head said: surfacesbeing differently disposed rela tively to said latch.

ing means when-inone position, disposed to ing; said; latch and. resilient means resisting .movement of said member when in another positionfor permitting said. latch to cause said member to move in said direction and -.r.elease-.said latchgreater force to be cammed up by surface 180.

.-2. A draft device comprisingJa casing, a latch pivoted atone end thereof, a member linouiitedto. align and engage with said latch, said member movable out of engagement "with said latch, said member. being rotatable to three positions; relatively to said latch and having -means when in oneposition disposed teen-gage said casing and to prevent move- ,ment of said; member out of engagement with said latch thus locking saidlatch andhaving surfacesfor alternately engaging said latch when in its other two positions, and resilient means resisting movement of said member and latch when in said latter two pos tions,

3.. A draft device comprising a narrow casing, a latch mounted for forward and rearward swinging movement at the forwardportion of. said casing, said latch having a I said yoke and adapted to move the same toward said latcl1,.a member extending through saidyoke and compression: spring having a nut threaded on its lower end engaging said compression spring and a latch-engaging member rotatably mounted on the upper end of said member, said latch-engaging member resting on the top of said casing and having a plurality of downwardly inclined sides any one of which may be engaged by said latch when swinging rearwardly to move said yoke and said members rearwardly to permit automatic coupling of said latch, said latch-engaging member having a lower portion adapted when in one position to engage said casing and prevent removal of said latchengaging member from said casing and having under surfaces alternately arranged to be engaged by said latch when said member is in other positions whereby said latch can raiseengage said casing and be locked againsti i-eminent n one of said directions thus lockgaging member disposed at the top of said casing, resilient means holding said member in normal position, said latch-engaging member having a plurality of downwardly and outwardly inclined sides, and having a plurality of downwardly and outwardly inclined under surfaces and having a downwardly extending portion adapted when in a certain position to engage with said casing.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5, said latch-engaging member having a slot at one side through which said latch can freely swing and said downwardly extending por- 7 tion of said latch being in the form ofa T a head. 7

said member being movable out of engagement with said latch, said member being rotatable to four positions relative to said latch, and having means when in one position disposed to engage said casing and to prevent movement of said member out of engagement with said latch, thus locking said latch, said member having two surfaces, for alternately engaging said latch when rotated to two other positions, said twosurfaces being adapted for alternate engagement with said latch, resilient means resistmg movement of said member and latch when in sald latter two positions, said surfaces being diiferently disposed relative to said latch and said memher, and said member when rotated to its fourth position having no portion engaging said latch so that said latch can swing freely. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE H.- STERLING;

A draft device comprising a casing, a latch pivoted'at one end thereof, a member mounted to align and engage with said latch, 

